Since the gay marriage debate first heated up, much has been said about preserving the supposed “sanctity” of marriage. However, with a society that watches The Bachelor rabidly and is rife with incidences of marital infidelity, one must wonder if marriage, at least as we know it these days, is even sacred at all.

When I look at octogenarian gay couples holding hands and waiting in line to get married, I don’t see any potential destruction of the institution of marriage. I see hope. I see love of the purest form, love that has endured through discrimination and doubt and fear and years. And is that not marriage exemplified?

Not in the opinion of conservative Christians who are quick to point out the Bible’s condemnation of homosexual relationships. However, our founding fathers believed firmly in the separation of Church and State. Like it or not, that separation is the basis of our government, and the Declaration of Independence holds far more sway than the Christian bible.

All too recently, “All men are created equal” excluded women and African Americans. Will it now exclude gay men and women? If not, then aren’t they guaranteed the pursuit of happiness? The right to marry?

The answer is yes. America has a long-standing history of inclusion, of fairness, of equality. If a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage passes, we should worry more about the damage to the very principles on which our country was founded than about any supposed tarnishing of the sanctity of marriage.